Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

ALDS Game 3: Derek Jeter pregame interview

Derek Jeter was surrounded during batting practice by a swarm of media, peppering him with a variety of questions. Here are his thoughts on the ALDS, Pete Rose’s doubts about Jeter catching the all-time hits king, and the Yankees’ struggles with runners in scoring position.

Being back at Yankee Stadium…
“We enjoy playing here. Obviously it’s our home fans and pretty energetic, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The playoffs…
“It’s fun. This is what you play for. We have the greatest fans in the world, in my opinion. I don’t want to disrespect any other fans. This is why you play the game, to get an opportunity to play in October and hopefully get to the World Series.”

Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez has been good…
“So we have no chance, right? I don’t pay attention to it. It’s the playoffs, it’s baseball. Anything can happen. We have to go out and have good at-bats and hopefully score some runs.”

Pete Rose…?
“I’m not talking about Pete Rose, man. We’re trying to win a game here.”

Don’t care about Rose’s comments?
“What do you think?”

Lots of talk about A-Rod…
“I don’t pay attention. I don’t read the papers, I don’t watch TV, I don’t do any of that during the playoffs, and pretty much during the season anymore. I don’t pay attention to it. I come here and try to win games.”

Confident in him?
“Yep, he’s one of the reasons we’re here.”

Any pregame routines or rituals?
“I wouldn’t say rituals, it’s a routine to get ready. It’s pretty much the same, but I’m not really superstitious.”

Struggling with RISP?
“Yeah, we shouldn’t play any more with guys on base. The bottom line is you get to this point and teams are here pretty much because they have good pitching. Pitchers are going to bear down and with runners in scoring position, they’re going to make good pitches. It’s not like we’re out there just facing a machine throwing the ball over the plate. They’re going to make pitches. Sometimes pitchers are better than you, and other times, you’re going to get them. I’m going to assume pitchers aren’t going to throw batting practice with runners in scoring position, but we have to find a way to score runs.”

Back in time

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.